Goodyear has announced that they will be closing there one and only plant in Taiwan in an effort to reduce costs. They will seek to move production to a lower-cost country. The Taoyuan plant currently manufacturers passenger and light truck/SUV tires and employs over 250 people. The plant has been pumping out Goodyear tires for the Taiwan and Asian export markets for 41 years. The official last day of the plant is just a couple months from now: July 31, 2010.

Despite the plant closure, the company released a statement that reiterated the fact that “Goodyear remains committed to the Taiwan market and will work to ensure that there is no disruption to the supply of products or services to its valued customers.”
Just 3 years ago, Goodyear had announced ambitious plans to invest almost $300 million in modernizing the facility and equiping it for the production of low-profile premium tires. In 2007, Goodyear Asia Pacific president Pierre Cohade had said: “This new investment underscores our confidence in Taiwan’s manufacturing capabilities, with its unprecedented competence in innovation, high-quality and flexible workforce, as well as its supply chain management. For Goodyear, we will continue to work with our partners to provide best-of-breed products and services to meet the needs of our customers in the Taiwan and global markets.”

It seems that despite their best intentions, Goodyear has fallen victim to the hard-hitting downturn that is affecting so many companies in the automotive industry. It will be interesting to see which “low-cost” country receives the privilege of hosting Goodyear’s new plant. Tire wholesalers should not expect any delay or disruption in inventory. No word yet on when that decision will be made.

While some tire manufacturers are feeling the heat of the recession, Cooper Tire seems to be doing something right. Yesterday they reported very promising results for the third quarter, namely an operating profit of $71 million dollars. This number is a $118 million improvement from the same period last year! Net sales increased by $9 million and net income grew by $102 million. Not too shabby for a manufacturer in one of the industries hardest hit by the economic downturn.

Cooper attributed its third quarter numbers to lower raw material costs, manufacturing improvements, and improved usage of capacity. The eventful quarter for Cooper included the deactivation of its plant in Albany, GA, which resulted in nearly $13 million worth of restructuring costs.

Roy Armes, CEO of Cooper Tire, gave some insight into the company’s recent successes: “The positive results during the quarter were the outcome of successfully executing on our plan in an environment where a positive price to raw material relationship existed. This resulted in extremely positive margin growth and an operating profit during the quarter of nearly 9 percent. Raw material prices have escalated in recent months, but we do not expect a return to the high levels of 2008. In this environment, our operating results will be significantly affected by our ability to hold or increase prices.”

Cooper Tire is a multi-national tire manufacturer that specializes in passenger car, light truck, and medium truck tires. For access to wholesale Cooper Tires, visit FutureTire.com. For more information about Cooper, visit their website at CooperTire.com.

Continental announced 5 new truck tires that will be manufactured in the U.S.

This year’s Mid-America Trucking show has come to an end, but not before Continental shared some encouraging news regarding the U.S.-based manufacture of 5 new wholesale truck tires. This next generation lineup includes 2 new steer tires, a trailer tire, and a drive tire, as well as a new wide-based trailer tire. The theme of the new lineup seems to be “efficiency,” as most of the new products offer improved mileage and lower overall driving costs.

The five new Continental truck tires are:

HSR2 (heavy steer) regional. Replaces the 7-year old Continental HSR. New tread compound offers a 15% mileage improvement over the older version. Also includes other features such as a patented stone ejection system and a visual alignment indicator which serves as a helpful warning regarding alignment issues.

H2U2 (heavy steer urban). More tread depth and volume than the earlier model, designed primarily for waste haulers and construction fleet owners.

HTL1 (heavy trailer long haul). Wide-based tire designed to replace two trailer tires.

The new Continental truck tires will be manufactured in the company’s Mount Vernon, Illinois plant – good news for U.S. tire industry workers who have seen reduced manufacturing capacity, plant closings, and layoffs in wake of the current economic crisis. Expect the truck tires to show up in the warehouses of local wholesale tire distributors in the coming months.

After a rough year in which the tire industry saw shipments fall by nearly 9 percent, the Rubber Manufacturer’s Association doesn’t have any good news to report about their forecasts for 2009. Thanks to a sharp decline in consumer confidence, high unemployment, low sales of new cars, and less driving, the RMA expects tire shipments to fall another 7% this year.

A 7 percent drop translates to loss of roughly 21 million units to 261 million, a level that hasn’t been seen in over 15 years. The last peak occurred in 2000 when shipments reached 321 million units. Despite projections for another sour year, shipment levels are expected to rebound modestly in 2010.

Are you a big fan of drifting, but wish you could spice up the show a little bit? If so, you’ll enjoy Kumho’s color smoke tires. These tires are specially designed to release huge thick plumes of colored smoke when the tire temperatures reach 200 degree. The billowing red and blue smoke is definitely a show-stopper, perfect for competitions and special events. Take a look at this video to watch Kumho color smoke tires in action.

The Ecsta MX-C was released a few years ago, but was never intended to be sold to the general public. The colored smoke effect is achieved by adding a color addititve throughout the tread rubber which is activated by the heat produced by surface friction. The tires come in four different sizes: 225/50R16, 215/40R17, 255/40R17, and 275/40R17. Unless you need some flamboyant tires for an upcoming drift event or contest, your best bet is to stick with regular wholesale Kumho tires for now.